Thievery & Politics
by Luxurien
Summary: Sasuke has always had a thing for his brother, and has done everything in his power to keep it secret. However, when Itachi actually gets serious with someone, Sasuke decides to get serious with Itachi. Fantasy AU in which Itachi is the crown prince over the land of fire.


Thievery & Politics – Chapter 1: What's Mine

-.-.-

Summary: Sasuke has always had a thing for his brother, and has done everything in his power to keep it secret. However, when Itachi actually gets serious with someone, Sasuke decides to get serious with Itachi. Fantasy AU in which Itachi is the crown prince over the land of fire.

-.-.-

"Are you sure about this?" Tsunade asked, peering up at the boy before her with her bright brown eyes. In her hands she held dark parchment paper with deep, calligraphic black letters spilling out across it, leaving indentations that could be seen on the other side.

"Yes." The boy, Uchiha Itachi, responded confidentially. His dull black hair was set in a pony-tail behind his head, and his bangs covered his forehead and the sides of his porcelain face.

"This breaks tradition but… I see no reason why not. Inform your family and I expect you to come in tomorrow."

"Yes, thank you." Itachi responded politely, yet he wasn't smiling even though he had just achieved his goal.

"On that note… I was hoping to do the same thing, grandma." A boy who was sitting opposite Tsunade at the desk spoke up. He had spikey blonde hair and eyes that were reminiscent of the azure skies. "I don't think I'm suited to this and think I would do better in militaristic or police forms… With the Uchiha."

Tsunade sighed. "Well I suppose we're all breaking traditions today. Go ask the Uchiha for permission."

"I will give my word for you, Naruto." Itachi said, smiling sadly now. Naruto was a friend of his little brothers, perhaps he could be the change that was needed…

"Really? Thank you, Itachi!" Naruto grinned excitedly, and put his hands behind his head, leaning slightly, but not enough to fall.

"If that's all, you both must leave now." Tsunade rolled the parchment in her hands. "I have work to do."

"I'll leave you to your work then." Itachi turned and left slowly, and despite being the first to move, it was Naruto who ran out of the door first.

-.-.-

"Itachi! Don't you understand your place? You connect this clan and this country like a pipeline. You can't simply dishonor the clan with rash decisions." Fugaku Uchiha spoke crossly to his son after being informed of the news.

"Father, I have good reasons for this." Itachi reasoned, catching a glimpse of shining black hair behind Fugaku. He knew how to play his father. "I believe an Uchiha in the governing side of the equation is necessary. We will expand our powers if we have a presence there and Lady Tsunade has already agreed to this. Besides, later today, the Senju boy Naruto will be coming for permission to join our forces. The Senju are placing their spy here, why should we not do the same?"

"They are?" Fugaku mused. "Perhaps you are right, we need to expand our presence. Very well, Itachi, you have my permission. You truly are a model son."

Itachi felt nothing from hearing his father's compliments, yet he humored his father anyway. "Thank you, father. I have work to do to prepare for this…"

"Of course." Fugaku watched as his son walked past him and opened the heavy wooden door of the armory, before he went back to his own patrols.

"Sasuke." Itachi entered the armory and drew his attention immediately to his little brother, who was feigning great interest in a long silvery blade.

"Itachi." Sasuke responded, not turning around. His dark onyx eyes, identical to his brothers, stared into their reflection on the sword.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"Why are you leaving me? Tradition states that the Senju make the laws and the Uchiha ensure those laws are followed. There is no reason for us to join congress." Sasuke gripped the blade in his hand tighter, but he refused to show the emotion on his face. Their father had taught them from a young age to control their emotions – yet for Sasuke this was considerably more difficult whenever Itachi was concerned.

"If you were eavesdropping you understand." Itachi needed Sasuke to understand more than anyone else.

"Please. That excuse that worked on father? I know you better than that, Itachi. You couldn't care less about this clan."

"But you care."

"Are you insinuating that you are doing this for me? Because you think I care?"

"I am." Itachi wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the truth either.

Sasuke turned around and approached his brother. Despite being the younger one, he now towered over Itachi, and he locked his eyes with Itachi's glazed ones. Itachi's eyes glazed like that only when he was trying equally hard to suppress his own emotions. _So he's trying._

"Itachi. I want you to stay here, with me. You're more important to me than the clan." Sasuke wasn't one to beat around the bush – he said whatever he felt. Right now, he was only thinking that he loved his brother, perhaps in ways he shouldn't.

Itachi's eyes widened, and a moment later he smiled sadly, reaching up to stroke his brother's soft raven hair. "Silly Sasuke… I will always be there for you. But I need to do this too. You and I are flesh and blood, even if we can't be together always, we are still brothers."

"Fine." Sasuke walked past his brother. "I have to join father in patrols."

"Sasuke." Itachi said in a fatherly tone, as if scolding a child.

"Patrols." And Sasuke was gone.

Itachi sighed, placing his hand against the frame of the wooden door. Separating himself from Sasuke was always difficult, but necessary.

-.-.-

"Nii-san…" Sasuke turned around to see his brother in the bathroom, causing the water to ripple around him as he did so, a faint smell of pine needles and coconut oil, from the bath, filled the air. Sasuke's hair stuck to face, dark and wet, with little droplets dribbling down and illuminating his cream colored flesh.

"My apologies, Sasuke, I was not aware you were in here." Itachi didn't question the sudden usage of the honorific 'nii-san' which Sasuke hadn't used since he was a child. He stood frozen, enchanted by his brother's figure and smile – when had he last seen Sasuke smile like that?

Instead of responding with words, Sasuke slowly stepped out of the marble bath that lay level with the ground, until he was, once again, towering over Itachi, and just a little pleased that Itachi's eyes lingered below just a moment longer than they should have.

"Sasuke." Itachi scolded, not unkindly. "You're making the floor wet, get a towel first…" Itachi trailed off because a moment later, Sasuke's hand was in Itachi's hair, pulling him closer. "Sasuke…?" Itachi squeaked.

"Nii-san…" Sasuke whispered against Itachi's lips before meeting them.

…

Itachi woke with a start, breath panting as his fingers dug into the mattress, his body was tense and his erection pushed against him painfully. Outside the moonlight flooded the room with a dim light.

"Unngh." Itachi moaned as he got on his front and grinded gently against the mattress. Try as he might, he could not get Sasuke's physique out of his mind, and finally, instead of fighting it, he guiltily let his hands wander down to take care of the problem that arose, mentally chiding himself for having these thoughts and clenching his eyes when the feeling was better than he ever expected. The mixture of guilt and euphoria only served to drive him further into the edge from which he feared he could never return.

With the first stroke Itachi's breath hitched and his eyes rolled back, imagining Sasuke's warm, wet tongue wrapped around his cock, causing currents of pleasure to flow through him.

-.-.-

"Starting today, I'm going to work with you!" Naruto beamed at Sasuke, showing his teeth as he did so, his hands on his hips.

"Start by changing. We don't wear orange. Get something black." Sasuke barely glanced at the nuisance before him. His father had charged him to get the rookie up to speed with what they did in the police force, and Sasuke had no doubt his brother had a hand in this placement.

"Fine, fine." Naruto seemed unfazed by Sasuke's lack of interest. "And then we do cool stuff like fight crime!"

"No."

"No?"

"We patrol. We make sure no one does anything stupid. The Special Forces handle serious crimes. We do the small stuff, like make sure drunks don't cause a scene."

"Whaaat, lame! Let me join the Special Forces."

"You haven't even started here, how do you expect to go to the Special Forces?" This guy was more annoying than Sasuke thought at first.

"Fine! I, Naruto Namikaze hereby swear that I will work hard and do whatever must be done, no task is too small! And one day, I'll join the Special Forces and fight crime!" Naruto pointed his finger out at something imaginary in the most dramatical possible fashion.

"Nice speech. Now go change." Sasuke just had enough time to glimpse Inabi Uchiha snicker in the background before pretending to do some work.

"Fine, be back soon." Naruto ran off in a random direction, and Sasuke stood there waiting for his return. It didn't take long, only about three minutes.

"By the way… Where do I get the police uniform?" Naruto asked with the same grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his head.

"In the armory."

Naruto ran off and came back about three minutes later.

"By the way…"

"There." Sasuke pointed to the door next to where they stood. "Get a weapon of your choosing while you are in there."

"Thanks!" Naruto jogged in place as a spoke, and broke off into a run as soon as he was done.

Sasuke's thoughts drifted to his brother and he climbed the walls of the police force, knowing from here he might be able to see his brother in Congress. He had nothing else do anyway, Naruto was changing.

From the walls, Sasuke scanned the area until he noticed the familiar dull, crow-like pony-tail that distinguished his brother from most Uchihas, and the dark physique that distinguished him as an Uchiha among the Senju.

But something was wrong. His brother was walking and _smiling _while talking to someone. Someone with white hair that pushed off to the side and dark black eyes. It wasn't someone Sasuke had ever seen before and it _angered_ him. Itachi was _his. _Itachi should smile only around _him._ This was a side of Itachi he thought only he had ever seen. He had always assumed that Itachi was impassive to everyone he met, and that thought relieved him. It made him feel secure because Itachi would show his kindness and let down his guard around only Sasuke. Yet… What was this?

"Hey, Sasuke, what're you doing up h-." Naruto had climbed next to Sasuke and barely got a word out before Sasuke's fist met his jaw and had Naruto flying towards the ground where he landed with a loud thud.

"YOU JERK, what was that for?" Naruto asked, barely hurt as he stood up and pointed at Sasuke accusingly.

"That was for not being on guard. You should be on guard always." Sasuke said irritably, jerking his shoulder as he tore his eyes away from the sight of Itachi and that _monster_.

-.-.-

"So, do we have an agreement?" Kakashi asked Itachi as they wandered through the gardens.

"Of course." Itachi smiled, with great effort, keeping pace with the taller, and older man. Tsunade had decided to test Itachi's ability to talk to people by having him converse with Kakashi as practice, and informed him that he must be both polite and welcoming, smiling. This was something difficult, as it went against everything Itachi had been taught growing up about remaining expressionless.

"Excellent. You have great skill, I'd say you pass with flying colors." Kakashi said, dropping the act of their dealings from earlier. "Next we need to see your writing abilities, public speaking and political philosophies… After that I believe Tsunade has plans to crown you as prince."

"Me? Prince?" Itachi asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course. The Senju and Uchiha have a long history of ruling the Land of Fire together, and Naruto is hardly fit for that role. He chose correctly to switch to a more militaristic approach. It does not matter which clan is in which role, ultimately we are ruling in tandem as it always has been, both are checks and balances for each other. It should not come as a surprise to pick the best of each generation. I think this might be a time to put tradition behind us and instead have each new member of the generation picked for their role based on ability rather than birthright."

"That would be ideal." Itachi agreed. "I would certainly like to see this future."

"And so would Lady Tsunade." Kakashi looked into the cerulean sky, where a bird was flying just above their heads. "I think this change will be good for our country, but it may be problematic for us with things as they are."

"What does that mean?" Itachi asked curiously. He had learned a lot in one day, and was beginning to wonder just how much the two clans ruled in tandem, after all he was learning things he felt the Uchiha should have been informed about sooner but weren't.

"It means I'm concerned about the state of the world. I have reason to believe we may be going to war with the Land of Lightning soon. The current Raikage has significantly different political beliefs from ours and recently the Uchiha Special Forces have informed us they are gathering an army."

"I am aware of the army, however what reason do we have to believe that force will be aimed at us?"

"It does not matter whether it is aimed at us or not, we must take precautions. If they are raising an army, so must we, because _if _they chose to attack us, we have to be prepared. It may seem unnecessary but we must take _every _precaution."

"I understand." Itachi furrowed his brow. Instantly his mind went to Sasuke and what war could mean. "We must prevent war at all costs."

"We will attempt to prevent war diplomatically, but we will also raise an army should our diplomatic methods fail."

"Sound logic." And so it was. Itachi could not argue with it.

-.-.-

A/N: I wrote this a while ago and never released it. I'm not sure when/if I'll continue it, but I did like the story a lot… Somehow I'm beginning to ship SasuIta more and more thanks to Uchihasavior and avenger-hawk/shirayuki-hime on tumblr. How many others have you converted to this ship, Esu?


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